Southern Roots
by greenglowchassis
Summary: About the team, after the heists. Leon's lil sister comes to stay from New Orleans
1. Default Chapter

~Alright, new fic. Tell me what you think. Obviously, I don't own any of the characters from the fast and the furious!~  
  
~Leon's POV~  
  
"Hey, yo Dom!" I say, holding the open express-mailed letter in my hand.  
  
"What's up Leon?" He asks, wiping his greasy hands on an even greasier rag.  
  
"Letter from Caro." I wave the envelope around a bit.  
  
"Oh yeah?" He asks, smiling. "How's she doin'?"  
  
"Good, I guess."  
  
"She still the same lil rugrat that she was when she was here last? Damn, how long ago was that. Must be 2 years?" He walks into the office and sits at the computer.  
  
"Yeah, guess so." I laugh, following him. "Long time, dawg. I hate to say it, but I miss the li'l punk."  
  
"Yeah me too. That girl was smart man. And crazy too! Didn't Jess develop a little crush on her last time she was here?"  
  
"HAha, yeah dawg. Always has, always will, but it's harmless. The girl has no idea." I smile, remembering when she lived here.  
  
"So, what'd she want?" He types figures into a file, not looking up.  
  
"Actually, that's what I came to talk to you about. She wants to come stay. She just finished school--college, down in Lousiana and...."  
  
"When's she arrive?" he cuts me off.  
  
"So she can stay?"  
  
"Course. We'll put that big brain of hers to work. Maybe she can get these cars of ours to go even faster."  
  
"Aight, I'll call her tonight." I reply, thinking about what it's going to be like to have her back.  
  
"It'll be good to have her back." Dom says, reading my thoughts. "She was always a good kid, and it wasn't cool the way she left."  
  
"Yeah, but what choice did she have. Ma wasn't goin' to let her stay with Dad and me and hang around with a gang of grease monkeys. That's just not what a proppa southa'n lady should grow up lahk." I make my southern accent a bit thicker to mimic my stuff mother. Dom snorts in response.  
  
"Lady my ass. Caro was never a lady. I can't imagine her acting anything like a 'proper southern lady,' whatever that is."  
  
"Yeah, I know. But Ma was tryin' to hold on to somethin'. If she went back to N'awlins with no family left, the shame would have been too much. Walking out on Dad was a huge thing for her, though it seemed easy enough for her to do. She didn't want Caro to grow up to be like me I guess. Taking her back south was her answer."  
  
"Yeah, well now she's grown. And if she wants to come out here with you, she can't be that changed can she?"  
  
I secretly hoped she hasn't changed a bit. Caro, my kid sis, man was she....well, Caroline. We had moved around a lot as kids, 'cause my dad was in the army. First it was South Carolina for two years, where Caro was born and got her name. I don't remember it much, hell I was only there from age two to four. Then it was on to Virginia for four years, and Atlanta for three, and then New Orleans for the next three. Last stop, Los Angeles.  
  
My dad always accepted me for what I was, whatever I felt like doing, but my mom.... She never could understand why I didn't want to be a nice southern boy, going to cotillion and taking girls to fancy restaurants, so she left me with my father, while she dragged Caro, the anti-girl, back to the south to try and make a lady out of her.  
  
"LEON!" Letty smacks me upside the head.  
  
"What!" I shout back, snapping out of my reminiscences.  
  
"I said, time to go. It's six and Mia said she ordered pizza."  
  
"Aight! I'm comin', I'm comin'. 


	2. Coming Home

~so it took a while to figure out I guess I'm going to continue this~  
  
~Mia's POV~  
  
I wipe down the counter at the store and place my books on it. Damn studying! The air is hot, but not sticky today and I'm cool enough in my tank top and shorts. Business is slow. Not many people have come in for anything. Dom sits in the back, nursing a beer and Letty's at my feet, sleeping behind the counter.  
  
I hear a car door close and quickly look up, but it's only a taxi dropping off a young girl. She can't be more than 16 or 17. Her hair is dark brown, about the same shade as mine. It's fairly long, but half covered by a navy bandanna. Her eyes are hidden behind sunglasses. She's wearing a huge Hornets jersey with a wifebeater underneath and dark mechanics jeans with boots. The girl is about 5'5 or 5'6. She comes up to the counter and spins around on the stool for a moment.  
  
"Can I get ya anything?" I ask.  
  
"Coke?" she replies, with a slight accent, almost a drawl.  
  
"Sure." I agree, going to the case to get her drink. I return and she's slipped her shades onto her head and I can see her face clearly. Green eyes, reminds me of.....  
  
"So where's Leon this time of day?" Her accent is southern, very light, almost unnoticeable, but I've heard it somewhere before.  
  
"Leon?"  
  
"Leon. Santos?" She draws out the word slowly.  
  
"He's at DT. You looking for him?" I ask, curiously.  
  
"You feelin' ok, Mia?" She asks with a laugh.  
  
"Huh?" I'm confused.  
  
Letty picks this moment to stand up from her nap. Immediately she smiles. "How you livin', Caro?"  
  
"Pretty good, Let. Soon as I got out of the clutches of Ma." She laughs good-naturedly. "Now, since Mia's acting spastic, you know how I could find my bro?"  
  
"He should be here soon, actually. The guys get hungry about this time."  
  
Finally it makes sense. "But you aren't supposed to be here for a week or two."  
  
"Got an earlier flight. Damn, can't believe you didn't recognize me!"  
  
"Sorry Caro. You just took me by surprise. I can't believe I didn't recognize you either. You look just like Leon."  
  
"Dress like him too." Letty laughs.  
  
Caro rolls her eyes, but laughs too. "Ya can take the girl outta the south, but ya can't take the south outta the girl."  
  
"Dom, Get out here." Letty yells into the back.  
  
"What!"  
  
"Caroline's here."  
  
"Caroline? Caro!" Dom smiles when he sees her. "How are ya?"  
  
"Pretty good, Dom." She hugs him. "It's nice to be back in LA. Though I don't know how all the boys back at the courts and garage will get on without me. CJ and Erik and Chad, Gary too, if he lets the others get to him."  
  
Dom just looks her up and down and smiles. "Damn, Caroline. You haven't changed a bit."  
  
"Yes I have. Before I left, what 6 years ago?, I didn't know how to ballroom dance..or paint.or do ballet..or catch a husband. But now I do. God, could momma have been any more obnoxious!" she rolls her eyes again.  
  
"Yeah, but you still look 14!"  
  
She smiles. "That's the way it goes. You should see me try to buy beer. Erik thought it was the funniest thing. See, the clerks at the store won't even card me for being 21 and they get pretty angry when I try to explain that I am old enough." Her eyes crinkle at the corners as she recalls the tale.  
  
"Well, Caro, it's good to see you after so long. What's been going on down south?"  
  
"Oh, not too much of anything. Finished school up in December, so I've just been working and playing ball. Not much to do down in Bourbon town, 'cept get drunk off your ass, and that gets old by the time you turn 18."  
  
"You crazy! Getting drunk off your ass is a time-honored tradition!" Letty teases.  
  
"Amen to that!" Vince shouts, coming in from outside. How you been pipsqueak?" He grabs Caro in a headlock.  
  
"I was good till you got here." She grunts, tickling him to get him away. He grins and makes way for Leon to attack her.  
  
"Babygirl!" Leon shouts at her. "Good to have you back. How you been treating the homeland?"  
  
"Pretty well. N'awlins is same as ever."  
  
"Is Lousiana anything like how the rest of the country thinks of it?" Vince asks honestly.  
  
"Well, digging for crawfish ain't as much fun without Leon around." She jokes. "You know the south. I think the Civil War's still going on, right? Naw, dawg. South's just as fly as LA. N'awlins is nothin' like 'bama, or Arkansas."  
  
"Good. Cuz we wouldn't want to hang out with a hick or anything." Vince rubs her head hard.  
  
"You hang out with Leon, don't you?" She shoots back. At this moment, Jesse enters the café silently, and Caro stops laughing. His eyes follow her for a second and then flit away, behind the shelf housing the food in the market. She quickly starts to talk to me again, but I definitely didn't miss the look on Jesse's face when he saw her. It was a mixture of joy and pain. 


	3. Revelation

~Wow it's been a long long long long time not writing and chillin' out is good for this kind of thing I guess, so here we go. Thanks for the reviews and cruel Capricorn was the one who inspired me to start this story again. I hadn't felt like writing in over a half a year so thanks for the review!~  
  
~Jesse's POV~  
  
"Hey yo Caro! Stop dancing around with your crazy bro and help me with this ice cream." Letty calls into the living room. She turns and laughs, tickling her brother and then comes to my aid. Our arms are precariously balanced with Ben & Jerry's containers, flavored syrup, cans of whipped cream, and sprinkles. Mia follows behind with more ice cream, bowls, spoons, and a blue dishpan. She hands it to Vince who proceeds to fill it with ice cream.  
  
"Y 'all are crazy!" Caro laughs, plopping down on the floor and sets the supplies on the coffee table. "What exactly are we watching?"  
  
"Old School," Vince says, laughing like a kid and grabbing the marshmallows.  
  
"Nice!" Caro smiles and stretches out on her stomach on the ground, balling her hoodie up under her head.  
  
"Dawg, we've seen this movie like 50 times. Pick something else." Leon groans.  
  
"Aw, shutup, Le." I say.  
  
"Yeah, shutup Le." Caro repeats and chucks a spoon at him. I look over and she's exactly as I remember her being. Teeny, long dark ironed-straight hair, brown skin from being in the sun, big green eyes like Leon's, black polish on short fingernails, somewhat pouty lips, and a killer smile. Her smile is always what gets me. Every time I look at that picture of me giving her a piggyback at the beach, I get depressed. I don't know if it will ever be the same and that kills me.  
  
She looks back over her shoulder and smiles then turns around. I get off the sofa and up the stairs.  
  
"Where are you going Jesse?" Mia calls.  
  
"Out," I say on my way back down as I grab my keys.  
  
"I want to come," she requests and I shrug. We get in my car and drive, ending up at the beach and Mia heads over to the swings by the lifeguard stand. We sit in silence, just feeling the breeze blow in off the ocean. "Jesse." She says quietly. I almost don't hear her.  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Why................um................Is there...................never mind."  
  
'No, what?"  
  
"Why aren't you happy to see Caro?" The waves crash into the sand, and I have no answer for her. "You guys used to be best friends. Like Dom and Vince. Then when she came back yesterday, you...you didn't say a word." I can tell Mia is uncomfortable. Why not just tell it like it is.  
  
"That's because she............."  
  
"She what?............................Jess, it's me. I'm not going to tell any of the guys. They aren't going to know."  
  
"Yeah. Yeah, I know." I wring my hands. "I.......she, she rejected me.....kinda."  
  
"Wha..but how? I mean, we're all together everyday..........How did I not know this?"  
  
"Cuz nobody knew. We just............One time in the garage, we were workin on a program through lunch and we kissed, well I kissed her. And then she pulled back and said she had to go. Then ten or fifteen minutes later she comes back and kisses me and then pulls away again cursing. Then like a week after that, in which we didn't talk, her mom decides to up and leave and take her back south. I hadn't talked to her since." 


End file.
